Draft:Criticism of Taylor Swift

• Comment: https://www.salon.com/2015/05/22/taylor_swift_is_not_an_underdog_the_real_story_about_her_1_percent_upbringing_that_the_new_york_times_wont_tell_you/ Ibjaja055 (talk) 09:55, 9 December 2024 (UTC)

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Taylor Swift in 2019

Taylor Swift has been praised for her talent, achievements, marketing, and influence. However, like many other singers and celebrities, she has also faced criticism from various groups, including intersectional feminists, environmentalists, and conservatives, as well as some of her fans (Swifties).

Criticism

Pollution

Taylor Swift has been criticized for allegedly being the biggest celebrity CO2 polluter due to her frequent use of private jets to travel during her tours.

Public image

Some have described Taylor Swift as an overrated singer, suggesting that her fame and success rely more on excellent marketing than on unique music. Additionally, some critics, including some of her fans, have argued that she doesn't deserve certain awards.

Swift has also faced criticism for allegedly victimizing herself in her music. Haley Victory Smith from USA Today criticized her song "The Man", accusing Swift of self victimization and said, "She certainly hasn’t needed to be a man to become the highest-paid celebrity in the world". Katy Perry once compared Swift to Regina George from the film Mean Girls, implying that, like the character Regina, Swift might present herself as innocent but could be deceptive behind the scenes. However, the two have since reconciled.

Additionally, some critics have accused Swift of greed for charging high ticket prices for her concerts. This has led a significant number of her American fans to attend her European concerts, where ticket prices were more affordable.

Label

Some critics have noted that Taylor Swift's father, a descendant of three generations of bank presidents and a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch, purchased a stake in Big Machine, the label with which Swift first signed. They imply that, while her success is significant, it is not entirely independent.

Some criticized that in contrast to Swift's relatively privileged upbringing, many iconic musicians, particularly in the genres of blues and country, have had much more challenging starts in life. For example, Johnny Cash was raised in poverty by cotton farmers during the Great Depression, while John Lennon experienced abandonment by both of his parents. Jimi Hendrix's early life was marked by hardship, including incidents of shoplifting food to survive. Similarly, Billie Holiday faced legal troubles having been incarcerated for prostitution"

Feminist criticism

Taylor Swift has faced criticism for allegedly misusing the feminist movement for personal gain, including from some of her fans. Some critics argue that she only uses feminism when it benefits her personally.

LGBTQ+ issues

In her 2006 country song "Picture To Burn," Swift sings, "so go and tell your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy, that's fine, I'll tell mine you're gay." This was interpreted as homophobic. However, nearly a decade later, on her fifth album 1989, she expressed support for gay relationships on the song “Welcome to New York.” Additionally, in 2019, she released an entire song and music video for Pride Month with “You Need to Calm Down.”

Personality

Swift's song "ME!" was described as narcissistic by Mat Smith from Clash Magazine, who wrote that the lyric "I promise that you’ll never find another like me" reflects either assured self-confidence or, like the story of Narcissus, an unhealthy dose of self-appreciation".

The conservative YouTuber Steven Crowder criticized the music video for Taylor Swift's song "The Man", which contains scenes inspired by The Wolf of Wall Street. The video depicts male privilege by portraying Swift as a male boss engaging in toxic masculine behaviors, such as manspreading, street urination and other things. Crowder called Swift’s acting "bad," particularly her poor imitation of a male walk, and found the video’s themes to be misandrist and exaggerated. He also argued that it demonizes men, saying, "you try to give women a leg up at the cost of men and you tell men that they are all villains and that they are all pieces of crap and also he said "I'm worried that young men meaning people still in high school and junior high who when they watch this oh you say I'm a piece of crap all right then I will be a piece of crap..." and he added "What do you think is going to happen with young men if you are going to tell them that everything that makes them men is terrible and toxic?".